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[maverickthree]

   There are a number of areas where I see Maine as su-
perior to New Hampshire in terms of state selection.

1) Less federal land--the White  Mountain National Forest
    occupies a rather large chunk of the Granite State.

2) New Hampshire shares a border with French-speaking
    Quebec with roads between both not particularly nu-
    merous. Maine on the other hand has a rather large
    border with English-speaking New Brunswick with much
    better roadway links.

3) Maine has a huge seacoast(I'm appealing here to the
    "smuggling contingent" of the FSP. Just kidding!--we
    all know FS'ers are honest as the day is long!) New
    Hampshire on the other hand has a rather small sea-
    coast outlet which could more easily be put under sur-
    veillance/ blockaded.

4) Maine has already elected an independent governor
    and already has a sustained, proven independent
    voting block. Taking the recent governor's election
    as an example, the Green candidate Jonathan Carter
    received 46,179 votes for governor or 9%. Another
    3rd party candidate John Michael received 10,894 votes
    or 2%.
      In New Hampshire's governor race. Libertarian John
      Babiarz received only 3% of the vote--12,939.
      The numbers speak for themselves.

 In any event, just some points to ponder.

                                                            Eric

[Thor]

I agree with you.  Maine could easily be removed from the map of the US and leave the US looking mostly the same.  Big landing strips, low government owned land, good gun laws.  And boston is not "too" far away (4 hours from Portland).

Some here would argue that Maine is too Green or Democrat, the job outlook is bleak, Mainers don't like outsiders, etc...  there is a strong push against Maine with this group.

Hunt around on here and you will see some of the cons that are mentioned, but I think there are some strong pros for it too...

Personally, my vote is for Alaska or Maine.  No matter how good another state looks on paper (and Wyoming looks good), land locked is "suicide" IMHO.

I think New Hampshire would follow Maine, and maybe even Vermont would follow.  But that is pure speculation.

If we don't hurry up and make a stand somewhere though, the sheeple will give in and destroy liberty everywhere.


Additions...

BTW, Maine is very wired.  Cable modems are pretty well deployed, so any online businesses could do well there.  

And, though you may dismiss it, I have floated this idea before....  Countries get assigned TLD (top level domains), like .us for the United States, and .ca for Canada.  Well, IF we made ourselves a country, as Maine...  the state of Maine is ME, the country of Maine could become .me   We could sell the hell out of .me for people all over the world as their personal domain.  thor.me  THAT revenue could help all of us out, as it could pay for some of the taxes that we would be phasing out.

Just my 2 cents, played again!  

[freedomroad]

And, though you may dismiss it, I have floated this idea before....  Countries get assigned TLD (top level domains), like .us for the United States, and .ca for Canada.  Well, IF we made ourselves a country, as Maine...  the state of Maine is ME, the country of Maine could become .me   We could sell the hell out of .me for people all over the world as their personal domain.  thor.me  THAT revenue could help all of us out, as it could pay for some of the taxes that we would be phasing out.

Giving the government another bus. is a bad idea.  The government has no bus. in selling domain names.  Also, user fees should replace taxes (or nothing for certain taxes) not government bus. revenue.

[redbeard]

Mav, I think Maine is a great place as well. Honestly, as a fellow Texan, I wish we could rally enough freestaters to make a difference down there. Texas has enough land and resources to exist as a seperate nation! But the population is too large and the influx of illegal democrats, I mean aliens, is going to pull it farther and farther to the left. The possibility of Maine pulling a couple of other small Northeastern states along with it is kind of interesting. The greater the land mass the better. Eventually, movements like FSP are going to lead to successions. Liberals and Conservatives, Socialists and Libertarians, Christians and Moslems, et.al, cannot live together. Once something like FSP succeeds there will be many other copycat movements. Who knows what that will do for national or regional stability. The strong will survive!

[Thor]

Giving the government another bus. is a bad idea.  The government has no bus. in selling domain names.  Also, user fees should replace taxes (or nothing for certain taxes) not government bus. revenue.

I agree with that statement in principle.  Smaller government everywhere is FAR better.  But I also feel that if a government agency can have positive cash flow on the book on an item that ONLY a state organization could run and it would benefit ALL, it could be OK.  As long as it is not infringing on rights or privacy.  

Similar to the oil situation in Alaska.  If the state can run that profitably, with business level expectations of profit and loss statements, and in turn invest that positive revenue into other items (state defense or roadways, etc that also have business level expectations), items where "user fees" for those services would impact 75% or more of the citizens, then I think it might be OK.  

I mean, would we REALLY want tolls (user fees) for roads that we have to pay for, given the various companies that would own each piece of roadway and where you get on and off each different owned roadway or bridge?  That would be a lot of change you would have to keep.    It could work with "smart tags" (that are anonymous) but still, I would be open to something like the .me thing to finance things like roads, as long as the money spent on roads was competitively bid and not subject to typical government waste.

It is a fine line IMHO.

[freedomroad]

I agree with that statement in principle.  Smaller government everywhere is FAR better.  But I also feel that if a government agency can have positive cash flow on the book on an item that ONLY a state organization could run and it would benefit ALL, it could be OK.

However, this is something that can be run without a state gov. and it would not benefit all.



 

  It could work with "smart tags" (that are anonymous) but still, I would be open to something like the .me thing to finance things like roads, as long as the money spent on roads was competitively bid and not subject to typical government waste.

It is a fine line IMHO.

However, the gov. will waste money.  Contracts will go to friends of those in office and bids will not be very competitive.  This is how government works.  You can not change this, only make government smaller.   Harry Browne has written about this many times.

[Liberator]

Before signing on with the FSP I was planning a move to Maine (I am originally from Maine). With the logging companies leaving the state, land prices in the north are very inexpensive. That might make it easier for the for the financially challenged, like myself, to move there.

[exitus]

Interesting article found in the Maine Press Herald, "A thousand miles" By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Portland Press Herald Writer.  The article provides some insights into Maine but also some lessons to be learned in the discussion of mass migration.

The "subtle advantages of Maine" are not lost on a muslim community of refugees from Kenya and Ethiopia that has been leaving the mild climate of Georgia for Lewiston, Maine:

Some Somalis see Lewiston as a place where they can establish a tightly knit community and more easily maintain their Muslim faith and Somali culture. They also hope to filter out what they see as negative aspects of American culture.

Mohamed is inspired to move to Lewiston by glowing reports from some of the estimated 1,000 Somalis who have moved to the once-bustling mill town since February 2001.

Ayni Mohamed is one of 500 to 1,000 Somalis who are expected to relocate to Lewiston during the next six months.

Apparently, it didn't take much organization to inspire this move, either:

Lewiston's reputation as a Somali boom town has spread so fast that Somalis who have resettled elsewhere around the world have heard about it. News stories and online chat about Lewiston are posted on several Somali Web sites. Somalis waiting in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia have heard about Lewiston from family and friends. "We are faster than the Internet," said Mohammed Maye, a Somali who is president of the African Community & Refugee Center in Clarkston.

 Another major motivating factor for this mass-migration:

Other Somalis say they are willing to leave Clarkston and move 1,000 miles north, as the crow flies, because they've heard Lewiston provides better access to social services, job training, housing and education.

Some social services are more readily available in Maine, where cities and towns offer public assistance along with state and federal agencies. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provides about $125 per month per family member, is available for five years in Maine, but for only four years in Georgia. And Maine provides medical care for children of needy families, while Georgia does not.

All of this sudden demand for welfare services has had an impact:

The trend of Somalis leaving Clarkston for Lewiston has piqued the curiosity and concern of federal, state and local officials in both states, who are dealing with the impact of this unusual secondary migration.

Hopefully, we Porcupines will be leaving states where we will not be missed and welcomed by a state that will appreciate our impact.

[Hank]

I agree with you.  Maine could easily be removed from the map of the US and leave the US looking mostly the same.  Big landing strips, low government owned land, good gun laws.  And Boston is not "too" far away (4 hours from Portland).

Oops, don't say the above too loudly.
But those are terrific reasons

We'd have to fortify the border with to keep those Boston refugees out.
They'd come in and the first thing they'd want is more city services to turn Maine into a Boston suburb.
Hmmn...
Have they not already done that in the corner down by New Hampston?

[lloydbob1]

I agree with you.  Maine could easily be removed from the map of the US and leave the US looking mostly the same.  Big landing strips, low government owned land, good gun laws.  And boston is not "too" far away (4 hours from Portland).

Boston is not much more than 2 hours from Portland.  I'm in Hartford and I can get to Brunswick in about 4 hours.

[Thor]

While watching this forum evolve, it appears NH or WY will be the choosen state (out of all the voices that are participating in the forum out of the whole 5,000)

While many good arguments have been made for both states, I still think Alaska and Maine from a purely geographical representation have our best shot at reaching our goals.

While talks of secession are frowned upon (and rightfully so), the way the USSA is heading, it might be our only real chance for the freedom we desire.  Alaska and Maine fit into the ability to do that from a "where is it on the map" perspective with ease.

Maybe a "pick NH then look at moving into Maine as we grow" strategy would be best so we can look at freeing the whole New England (kind of ironic....  250+ years ago, we left England to create freedom here, now possibly we head to "New England" to find freedom again.)

Just to prove my point about why these choices are better, California is starting to get the wrath of Bush from a Bush attorney over Medical Marajuana.  The Federal governemnt is flexing their muscle and telling the state they are out of line and gonna get a whipping.  

An Alaska judge recently just upheld the 1950's (I think) ruling that 8 ounces in your own home for personal consumption is legal as it is part of your right to privacy under the Alaskan Constitution and the 1990 voter initiave to make ALL marajuana illegal violates that privacy and the state constitution and the 1990 initiative is thus null and void.  At least in Fairbanks.  Will Uncle Sammy start throwing oil around or doing other things to make Alaska toe the line?  

Maine has a medical marajuana ruling that allows it as well.  I believe one of the smaller goals of the FSP is to legalize things that are not a threat to others.  If that happens in WY or NH, what happens when we go head to head with the ever-growing power hungry federal beast?  The same beast that wants to now have every single stamp have an electronic fingerprint (barcode) identifying who sent it and who it is going to.  Adolph Ashcroft is doing a publicity tour to prove the Patriot Act is a good thing.

Maine or Alaska look like a dandy choice in that regard.  At least to me.  The S word is our back door escape hatch.  Pick a state where that back door is not sealed off.  

I said much earlier in these posts I thought a Maine then NH might follow approach would be best, but maybe the other way around would be OK too....  If we have that as our goal and start sending overflow into Maine to accomplish that goal.

[CJMcMahon]

Still more advantages of Maine.

For those of us who must work for a living:
In my field (Accounting) the job market for the next 10 years is better than Alaska, Wyoming, Vermont and the Dakotas.

Plenty of affordable land in Northern Maine.

If winter is a problem live by the coast where winter is milder than inland.